Ulster Bank has agreed to sell most of its remaining loans, comprising performing and non-performing personal and commercial debt with a gross value of €694 million, to US distressed debt group AB CarVal Investors, as it continues its winddown. AB CarVal has signed up to buy the loans through a vehicle called Elmscott Property Finance and has enlisted loan servicing firm Pepper Finance to manage the loans as legal title holder, a spokesman for Ulster Bank confirmed to The Irish Times. Joe Brennan has the details.
There are only a few things in life we spend our hard-earned money on while hoping we will never have to use. Fire extinguishers and CPR courses all rank highly on that list but usually insurance is the one product we purchase to protect against worst-case scenarios, while crossing our fingers hoping they don’t arrive. Nearly half the population has private health insurance, with 43.7 per cent of us covered, according to Health Insurance Authority (HIA) figures from March 2023. Brianna Parkins has some advice for you when choosing a plan.
The much-anticipated delivery of a five-star boutique hotel at Hatch Hall, the former university residence hall on Hatch Street, Dublin 2, looks set to be delayed yet again following its sale by Red Carnation Hotels. Ronald Quinland reports.
Extra costs stemming from a proposed betting advertising ban could end daily coverage of Irish horse racing, the sport’s main broadcaster has confirmed. Racing industry figures warned this week that a proposed blanket pre-watershed ban in the Gambling Regulation Bill threatened coverage of the sport, potentially damaging racetrack revenues and thoroughbred ownership. Barry O’Halloran reports.
French investor Iroko Zen has completed its seventh acquisition in the Irish investment market, paying €9.8 million for the premises of DIY retail giant Woodie’s on Cork Road in Waterford city, writes Ronald Quinlan.
Arachas Corporate Brokers, the insurance broker group chaired by former minister for finance Charlie McCreevy, saw its net profit jump by 35 per cent last year, as deal making across the industry continued at pace. Joe Brennan reports.
The level of activity in the development land market saw a significant decline in the first half of 2023, with just 26 sites with combined selling prices of €86 million sold in the greater Dublin area compared to total sales of €279 million and €244 million respectively in the first and second halves of 2022, writes Ronald Quinlan. That is the key finding from the latest development land update from Lisney Commercial Real Estate.
Money is the economy’s unit of account, the yardstick we use to calculate profit and loss, make contracts, specify debts and more. It is problematic when that yardstick keeps changing length, when you have to worry about how much a euro or dollar will buy in the future, writes Paul Krugman as he ponders our obsession with inflation.
Airbnb contributed more than €500 million to the Irish economy last year, according to a new report commissioned by the home-sharing platform, writes Ellen O’Regan. Airbnb published the report on Wednesday which it commissioned from independent economics advisory firm, Oxford Economics, outlining its economic impact in Ireland in 2022.
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